There’s a lot of trees in the wooded areas outside of Union City. However, one tree stands out among all the others. It’s part of Erie County’s Civil War history.
The tree has flags planted at its base. It has a historical marker a few feet away. It’s located on Hungry Run Road about six miles east of town. 164 years ago, the land in which I am now standing was owned by a farming family named Sargent. Timothy Sargent and his two brothers enlisted to fight for the Union Army. Timothy was 34 years old and had two kids and one child on the way. But he felt that it was his duty to volunteer.
In 1862, at this now-special tree on Hungry Run Road, Timothy Sargent did one last thing before he left home to fight.
“Before he left, he took a pitchfork, stuck it in the tree, and told his family not to remove it,” explains Linda Geer, President of the Union City Historical Society.
Timothy wanted to remove that pitchfork himself when he returned home from the war. Sadly, Timothy never returned home. He was captured, sent to Andersonville Prison Camp and later died at a stockade in South Carolina. The pitchfork was never removed from that tree. One tine of the pitchfork still remains protruding from the old, rotted tree. It’s a sight that that makes you feel sad and patriotic at the same time.
The story of Timothy Sargent is memorialized in a song written several years ago. Brian Maynard, a disc jockey with Union City Radio 96.7 plays the tune every so often on his show called The Music Museum.
“The name of the song is “Hungry Run,” Brian tells me. “It’s sung by Barry Smith. He had a band called The Tiger Maple String Band. They did an awesome job with it.”
A road trip to commemorate the 250th anniversary of our country and our state might not be complete without by taking a drive to Hungry Run Road. Hungry Run Road is just a few miles from Union City. Turn off of Route 8 onto Concord Street. Stay on that road for about five miles. Then take a right turn onto Hungry Run. Drive approximately one mile and look for the historical marker on the left